Units timetabled for 2013 and 2014 are provisional only, and details of semester and time will change. The official timetable for each year is released on 1 September of the prior year.

Archived unit descriptions for 2011 are available here.

Prayer and Hospitality: Benedictine Spirituality and Australia

Unit Code: 
CH345
RTI: 
United Faculty of Theology
Unit Value: 
15 points

This unit locates Benedictinism in the wider history of monasticism. It covers monastic prayer with particular attention to the psalms, lectio divina, and liturgical life, the place of manual work and understandings of hospitality. Taking the monastic town of New Norcia as an example, it explores the Benedictine tradition in Australia especially in relation to the post-contact history of the former mission town. Students will spend a week living in the guest-house of the Benedictine monastery at New Norcia, Western Australia, participating in the community life of prayer. In addition they will attend lectures and participate in group discussions. There will be a number of structured activities based on the resources of the archives, museum, art gallery and cross-cultural Education Centre.

Learning Outcomes: 

Upon successful completion of this unit, it is expected that students will be able to:

  1. Articulate their experience of Benedictine spirituality and hospitality
  2. Identify key themes in the Rule of St Benedict and Benedictine spirituality
  3. Interpret key themes in Australian history and the history of Benedictine monasticism in relation to the particular experience of the New Norcia mission.
Lecturer/s: 
Katharine Massam
Timetabling
Semester: 
Intensive
Location: 
Centre for Theology and Ministry
Unit Frequency: 
Biennial
Years Offered: 
2011
Years Offered: 
2013
Notes: 

In 2011 this unit will take place in New Norcia, WA from 8 to 15 July, and at CTM on 7 May and 3 September.

Unit Fields
Courses: 
Bachelor of Theology
Courses: 
Bachelor of Ministry
Field: 
Field C Christian Thought and History
Disciplines: 
Church History
Department Name: 
Department of Christian Thought and History
Unit Level
Undergraduate Level: 
3
Prohibited Combinations: 

CH355/455 Living by the Rule

Mode of Teaching: 
Intensive
Teaching Methods: 

Participation in the live-in experience will include lecture-style input and discussion (5 x 2 hours) and seminar-style source-based discussion (7 x 3 hours), in addition to involvement in and reflection on the community life of prayer, and structured activities drawing on the resources of the archives, museum, art gallery and cross-cultural Education Centre. The Orientation meeting and the Saturday workshop on research essays will include input and small group discussion.

Workload
Workload: 

Total structured contact time is 75 hours.

Assessment
Assessment TypeWeightingLearning Outcomes Assessed
Assessment Type: 

1 x 3000 word course journal

Weighting: 
30%
Assessment Type: 

1 x 1000 word source analysis

Weighting: 
20%
Assessment Type: 

1 x 2000 word source-based essay

Weighting: 
50%
Recommended reading: 

* = set texts recommended for purchase

Casey, M.  Towards God: the western tradition of contemplation. Collins Dove, 1989.

Casey, M. Sacred reading: the ancient art of lectio divina. Triumph Books, 1996.

Choo, C. Mission girls: Aboriginal women on catholic missions in the Kimberley, 1900-1950. University of Western Australia Press, 2001.

Fry, T. (ed.). The Rule of St Benedict in English Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1981.

Hutchinson, D. A town like no other. Fremantle: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1995.

Leclerq, J. The love of learning and the desire for God. Fordham, 1982.

Massam, K. Sacred threads: Catholic Spirituality in Australia 1922-1962. Sydney: UNSW Press, 1996.

Stewart, C. Prayer and Community: the Benedictine Tradition. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1998.

New Norcia Studies, vols 1-12.

© United Faculty of Theology, 2008-2012.